My 2018 Water Fast has been INCREDIBLE – Part 2

“A little starvation can really do more for the average sick man than can the best medicines and the best doctors”

Mark Twain

Fasting can be a highly emotional experience

The one thing that many people underestimate about fasting is the emotional journey. As most of us eat for our emotional state (instead of our body) we can experience irrational and erratic feelings while fasting. The impulse to snack is all in the mind, so don’t go blaming your biology.

Fasting can leave you feeling highly emotional and cranky in the short term because it takes time for your body to break those long lived psychological or biological habits. When you are fasting you cannot stuff those feelings back down because the foods are not in your stomach to suppress them.

Be mentally prepared.

When you fast, you can’t hide out and you can’t stuff food in, so you can become a highly emotional, whiny, grumpy, moody pain-in-the-butt! Warn your friends and family if you are trying fasting for the first time!

Cravings

If food cravings were real for the body then people all over the world would get the urge for similar foods in response to nutritional needs. Yet there are huge cross cultural differences in the kind of foods we crave. There is no scientific evidence that food cravings are linked to nutritional deficiencies in any way at all. Cravings are not the body telling us we ‘need’ a vitamin or mineral because it is missing from our diet and somehow needs replacing. If this was genuinely the case, we would crave fruit and vegetables every day! Food cravings are emotionally and psychologically driven and most comfort food cravings are a response to stress. Stress and emotional upheaval stimulates a flood of hormones and emotions that prompt pleasure seeking eating patterns, such as pigging out on chocolate and ice cream.

A new relationship with food

Fasting is a rebooting of the body systems. Fasting frees you from the tyranny of food and gives you a different appreciation of time and energy. Fasting encourages you to rethink your eating habits. When you fast you will be stunned at how many times you habitually reach for food. Watching television, feeling stressed, bored, when you are traveling, and so on. You reach for food in all sorts of circumstances that have nothing to do with hunger. It’s enlightening to become aware of your attitudes towards food and eating. We have deep emotional connections with food, which are often revealed during a fast. Fasting therefore develops your inner willpower and strengthens your mind to master hormones produced during times of stress, anger, desire or weakness.

In part 3, I talk about time, hunger and being appropriate when fasting.

As I have mentioned, if you are struggling with your health, I would love to work with you one-on-one, it would be a privilege to help you back to great health.

Personalised One-On-One Health Coaching with me

I have been teaching healthy longevity and fasting for over 30 years now. If you would like to work with me personally to get back to exceptional health, then you can either participate in my health education programme thelifeplan®, or in my in-depth, intimate and exclusive one-on-one health coaching for individuals, families or extended families.

PERSONAL, INTIMATE, UNIQUE, HOLISTIC

This is highly personalised, tailor-made and intimate health coaching in a way that it has not been done before – it is a very unique and special offering. It is not tied down into any particular modality, rather it is inspired by the longest lived centenarian cultures from all over the world. It is bringing my expertise, experience and wisdom to look deeply over your life – as it is – and working with you closely over time to get you to a level of exceptional health.

HIGH LEVEL, INTUITIVE HEALTH COACHING

With my 30 years of research, ‘healthy longevity’ study and parenting intuition, I look closely at your life – tackling and addressing all your needs and concerns around your health and wellbeing. I do this meaningfully, at your pace, in your style, and with your health goals top of mind.

IN YOUR SPACE, AT YOUR PACE

I come to you, at your place and help you transform your pantry, your fridge, your diet, your lifestyle – all inside your own environment. I will initially do a very in-depth interview with you and we will then work together through the most important changes to be made over time to all areas of your diet, lifestyle, environment and headspace.

LET’S COOK UP A STORM!

I will work through with you (and/or your family if appropriate) to get you all feeling inspired and alive again and to achieve every health goal you have. If cooking and food inspiration is needed, Tracey can join us for fun cooking workshops on main meals, desserts, salads, treats and kid’s meals – in your kitchen. For some people (particularly those who are visual) seeing something prepared and cooked is how it really sticks with you and gets you over that barrier and into the joy and ease of healthy longevity cooking.

EXCLUSIVE & LIFE CHANGING

Because of the nature of how personal and in-depth this work is, naturally there is only room for me to work with a handful of individuals or families at any one time. I am currently working with one family and one individual and we are getting life-changing results.

FLEXIBILITY AROUND YOUR NEEDS

I can offer a once-off visit and consultation, or work with you very deeply over as many months as it takes to get you and your family back to exceptional health.

So if you are genuinely up for valuing serious and lasting change to your health in 2018 then let’s get on with it! Email me personally on jason@jasonshonbennett.com and I look forward to supporting you back to exceptional health!